Category: Gary Endsley

An East Texas History Lesson

“Jefferson even started its own rail line in 1860. The vast majority of cotton from North Texas, Southern Arkansas and Oklahoma poured into Jefferson by rail and was shipped out by steam boat.”

Jefferson did not have a railroad in 1860, or even 1870 for that matter. Ox teams from the area brought cotton wagons into town before the railroad arrived. This didn’t occur until after 1873 when the Corps of Engineers cleared the Great Raft from the Red River dropping water levels to the point where navigation between Jefferson and points south and east were impossible. The railroad came in shortly thereafter.

The Great Caddo Lake Pearl Rush

By Gary Endsley

Yes, freshwater mussels make pearls, and yes, Caddo Lake experienced a great pearl rush over a short period between 1909 and 1911.

It all began with the arrival of someone who had done it all before. Sachihiko Ono “George” Murata went to work for Gulf Oil on Caddo Lake. During his time as a cook, he began to find pearls in freshwater mussels. When George found two pearls valued at $1,500 each, the “Great Pearl Hunt” was touched off. As many as 500 tents were set up on the shore and hillsides of Potter’s Point at any one time. Most hunters became discouraged after a few weeks and some stayed through the next three summers. Eventually, all would leave except George.

Forest Service Investigates Monster Near Bayou

By Gary Endlsey

JEFFERSON- At the request of the City of Jefferson, Jason Jones and Chad Wiley, Resource Specialists for the Texas Forest Service in Linden, investigated a behemoth Quercus phellos, the scientific name for willow oak, near the intersection of Camp and Marshall Streets inside the Port Jefferson Restoration Park. The purpose of the survey was to determine the giant specimen’s metrics for possible nomination as the largest willow oak on the Texas Big Tree Registry. Using big tree protocol, trees of the same species are compared by virtue of circumference, height, and crown spread.